07-05-2025
Passing of much loved former county Sligo GAA player and referee
John gave a lifetime service to the GAA and was also a highly esteemed employee of Sligo University Hospital where he worked for many years.
He was very well known in Sligo GAA circles firstly as an outstanding goalkeeper who was man of the match at the opening of the famous Marcievicz Park in 1955.
John was working as a steward but was pressed into service and made nationwide headlines for his quite unique debut. And his ardent GAA father James Lee was a Director of the Park having been one of 50 people to donate £100 to pay for its construction which was a huge sum in those days.
John played for Sligo in goals from 1955-1960 including in a Connacht final against the all- conquering Galway side in later took up the whistle in 1970 and went to referee all over the north- west and west including the Railway Cup final of 1978 and an All-Ireland Colleges final.
John kept at the whistle until the 1990s and was a well- known figure at Sligo IT matches.
He refereed right up until the late 1990s when he was well in his 50s and was and is a very well- known figure around the town. And, in a town much more noted for its rich soccer heritage John was a torch bearer for Craobh Ruadh, whose original base was Circular Road and the GAA in Sligo town.
He also won three Sligo county championships with Craobh Ruadh as a teenager from 1952-1954-a remarkable achievement by any standards at a time when the real powerhouse of Sligo GAA was in the south of the county.
Apart from goals, John also lined out at wing back for his beloved Craobh Ruadh.
But his passion for Sligo GAA was undimmed and had a great grá for Sligo Rovers as well, the club came looking for him in the 1950s, but his father would not allow him to cross the great divide in the days of the infamous ban.
John always believed there was an All-Ireland title in the Sligo team of 2002 and is convinced they were robbed of a certain goal in the drawn All-Ireland Quarter Final with Armagh.
John had an interesting working career as well beginning with Heron and Banks Hardware Shop in High Street and then to the famous Snia factory. He later got employment as a porter in Sligo General Hospital where he became a very well- known figure and was very popular with the patients and staff.
A natural seanchaí John had a great recall of old characters of Sligo and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the town he loved so well.
John passed away on April 30th, dearly loved husband of Mollie and father of Áine, Máire, Ailbhe and Maeve.
Removal from Sean Feehily's Funeral Home, Cartron Cross to Saint Joseph's Church, Ballytivnan, Sligo took place on Thursday last with Mass of the Resurrection at 11.30am on Friday May 2 with burial afterwards in Sligo cemetery.
